The Greene County Rams ended the football season with a District 2 loss to the Carroll Tigers in Carroll Friday evening. The Rams caged the Tigers in the first half, keeping their offense in check while it rained. The rain was finished for the second half and the Tigers roared, scoring 28 points, 21 of them in the fourth quarter. Final score was 28-13.
When it rains on a football game it rains equally on both teams, but the Rams capitalized on heavy rain for the first score of the game. The Rams received the kick-off and were at third and 9 on the Ram 35 yard line when driving rain began. The Rams’ possession ended with a Reid Lamoureux punt to the Carroll 30 yard line.
With the rain still coming down hard, the Tigers fumbled on their first play and senior Jonny Varricchio recovered the ball on the Tigers’ 28 yard line. The Rams scored four plays later with a 6 yard run by quarterback Daric Whipple capping the short drive. Senior Nick Schroeder continued his perfect season kicking points after, and with 7:51 to play in the first quarter the Rams were up 7-0.
Mother Nature prevailed in the first half. The Rams totaled 99 yards of offense in the first half, with 65 yards rushing and 34 yards passing. The Tigers came up with only 64 yards of offense, with 27 rushing and 37 passing.
The rain ended early in the second half and the Tiger offense went to work. They scored on their first possession on an 84-yard, eight play drive that included a 64 yard run by senior Matt Pauk. The PAT was good and with 9:06 to play in the third quarter the score was 7-7.
The Tigers scored again on a Pauk-powered 92-yard seven play drive that lasted into the fourth quarter. With 11:11 to play in the game the Tigers were up 14-7.
The Rams were within easy scoring range with less than five minutes to play. The Rams had returned a Tiger punt to the Tigers’ 28 yard line. At second down and 7 yards to go on the Tigers’ 25 yard line a Whipple pass intended for Schroeder was intercepted by senior Peter Stevens. The Tigers’ offense was in overdrive and they scored again with 2:48 to play to increase the lead to 21-7.
The Tigers added to their lead after intercepting a Whipple pass on their own 35 yard line. It took just one 65-yard pass play from Kolby Molinsky to Dayton Ross and a PAT and the Tigers were up 28-7.
The Rams scored a final touchdown with 19 seconds to go and the Tiger reserves in to play. The drive ended with a 19-yard pass to Tyler Beger in the end zone. The snap before the PAT wasn’t good and Beger ended up attempting to run the ball into the end zone. The attempt was unsuccessful, but it allowed Schroeder to complete his perfect season in PATs. Final score for the game was 28-13.
The Tiger offense, without the rain, had 358 yards of offense in the second half to total 422 yards for the game. Molinsky passed for 192 yards and Pauk rushed for 216 of the Tigers’ 230 total yards on the ground.
The Rams totaled 239 yards for the game, 126 passing and 113 rushing. Whipple claimed 83 rushing yards on 26 carries. Whipple completed 11 of 27 passes for the team’s 126 yards.
Max Neese added 17 yards on six carries while Trey Tucker ran twice for 11 yards and Anthony Cunningham gained two yards on five attempts. Beger grabbed four passes for 65 yards and a 19-yard TD. Schroeder had 52 yards on four receptions and Chase Stoline caught an eight-yard pass.
The Rams finished the season 2-4 in Class 3A District 2 and 4-5 overall. Webster City was first in the district, with Carroll second, Algona third and Humboldt fourth. Those teams will play in the first round of post-season play Wednesday evening. The Rams have been in the play-offs each of the last seven seasons. Next year, the post season will be one game shorter, with only the top two teams from each district qualifying.
